A reconfigurable antenna comprises an array of interconnected gas
enclosures, each of the enclosures being controllable between at least a
first state in which gas within the enclosure is substantially
non-conducting and a second state in which the gas within the enclosure
forms an electrically conductive plasma. At least one pair of adjacent
enclosures in the array is arranged such that configuring the pair of
enclosures in the second state results in an electrical connection,
between a first electrode associated with one of the enclosures of the
pair and a second electrode associated with the other enclosure of the
pair, through electrically conductive plasma of at least one of the
enclosures of the pair. The reconfigurable antenna in an illustrative
embodiment is operable in a plurality of different modes of operation by
altering, from mode to mode, which of the enclosures are configured in
the first state and which of the enclosures are configured in the second
state.